by Anne Kirby | Apr 19, 2018 | Customization, Forestry Management, George's Furniture, Rocking Chairs, Stools, Tables
We often get asked what makes our furniture last so long. Many of our customers own George’s Furniture heirlooms that have been passed down to them—or they themselves plan on passing their pieces down to their children and other family members.
There are several reasons as to why our high-quality, hand crafted furniture is built to last right here in Lancaster County.
- Built from strong solid hardwood — Wood is a resource that keeps on giving. Pennsylvania forests are managed and cared for to strengthen and increase sustainability and the quality of our products.
- Constructed with the ability to adjust to moisture changes — between seasons and different climates. When the furniture is sitting in your home, the wood continues to move as the seasons change or the pieces move with you to different climates—but you’d never know it. Our furniture is assembled to allow for this movement without affecting its construction.
- Crafted by one craftsman with precision and seasoned skill — We do not have assembly lines. The craftsman who makes your furniture onsite will sign and date every masterpiece. Each craftsman takes pride in the personal work that goes into each piece they build—from start to finish. This goes a long way in controlling the overall quality and beauty in your own piece of furniture.
- Quality control at multiple points throughout the building process — The initial build of your furniture is by the craftsman. While being hand stained, each surface of the furniture is checked closely. Final assembly includes hardware and possible lighting. We personally deliver our furniture; this allows us to check it while blanket wrapping it for delivery with one final check at your home while you’re present.
- Time tested joinery methods — Our gift to you through our joinery methods is a promise for long-lasting construction. Craftsmen are trained to know the “feel” of a solid joint during assembly.
- Durability and life of furniture is taken into account at the design stage before building starts — Each piece is reviewed together by both a designer and a craftsman—and continues throughout the building stage. Our designers enjoy working with you to create your own unique piece for your home.
- Maintained temperature and humidity in the woodshop and finishing room — Temperature and humidity levels are taken into consideration throughout the year to keep the wood in a constant stable condition from the building stage, and through to the finishing stage. The wood or furniture never leaves the building between building and finishing. We use humidity control in the building throughout the year.
- High grade sanding materials — we use the highest grade of sanding materials to give the perfect surface for receiving a consistent stain. Sanding materials are never overused and our craftsmen have the experience to know when enough sanding is enough.
As you can see, a lot of time and care goes into each piece of furniture made here at George’s Furniture. Contact us today or stop by our beautiful showroom!
by Anne Kirby | Apr 12, 2018 | Customization
One of the major characteristics of George’s Furniture pieces is the natural beauty of the hardwood we choose for each piece. Our wood is harvested from native trees at just the right time each year. From slow-drying in our kiln, to constructing each piece by hand by our experienced craftsmen to your exact specifications. Throughout this meticulous assembly, precise hand sanding ensures proper fit and finish.
One way in which our customers customize their handmade pieces is by choosing the type of wood they’d like to use to match the look and feel of their home. While we have a beautiful variety of woods to choose from, the most popular choices are our natural black walnut blend, black walnut, cherry, and red oak.
The natural black walnut blend is natural walnut using both the dark inner wood with the lighter outer wood section revealing a beautiful color combination. The center part of the tree (heartwood) is dark brown in color, while the ten (10) outer layers of sapwood are a light off-white color. Our craftsmen choose the boards that have both the sapwood and heartwood grain of the walnut tree. As we carefully arrange the boards to create a unique natural flow of grain, the beauty of this particular wood just shines.
Our black walnut is air dried. Air drying is less stressful on the wood itself, keeping the natural beauty of color variation. This particular wood choice is usually finished with clear water-resistant finish, to let its natural beauty exposed without staining. Black walnut has a flowing, feathery grain.
Cherry wood is naturally lighter red in color with a beautiful flowing grain. We typically stain this gorgeous choice of wood, and our customers have approximately 15 different stains to choose from—from light red to dark red, and everything in between. This rich looking result is very popular among George’s Furniture customers.
Finally, red oak has a distinct, bold grain. Again, while it’s naturally light golden in color, our customers are able to choose from about 15 different stains for this hardwood choice. The stain highlights the darker part of the grain. Also important to note is that red oak is 15% heavier.
Stop into George’s Furniture today to customize your dream furniture! You can even schedule a tour of our woodshop.
by Anne Kirby | Apr 5, 2018 | Customization, George's Furniture
At George’s Furniture, each handcrafted, hardwood piece goes on a thorough journey before taking its place in a customer’s home. We begin by harvesting native trees and slow-drying the rough sawn lumber in house. Our kiln reduces stress cracks which occur when accelerating the drying process. The slow-drying process also prevents loose joints, splitting, and warping. Our craftsmen are extremely careful in caring for every single piece of furniture produced in our woodshop.
Once the wood has been slowly dried, construction takes place. From start to finish, our talented craftsmen take particular care in creating each chair, table, stool, etc. by hand. Our furniture is cut, lathed, and sanded by hand to the exact specifications from our customers.Before final inspection, your hardwood furniture is assembled and taken to our special staining station. Our craftsman hand rubs your specified color into the wood of your choice. Once the stain has dried thoroughly and completely, the piece is taken into the dust-free spray booth where two coats of premium-quality clear, water-resistant finish are applied to all sides of the piece—including top, bottom, outside, and inside—sealing and protecting this long-lasting piece from moisture and other elements when exposed to natural wear throughout its lifetime. The first coat of finish is dried and sanded, and the second coat is followed by a close inspection to ensure smoothness and full coverage.
Our most popular stains are the natural black walnut blend, cherry wood with cinnamon stain, and cherry wood with dark mahogany stain.
Each piece at George’s Furniture is carefully inspected to make sure it meets our high standards. Call us today to take a tour of our woodshop and showroom, so that you can see this process in real-time—as well as the finished product!
by Juanita | Mar 14, 2018 | Forestry Management, George's Furniture
As we gear up for National Forestry week (March 20-25), we believe now is the perfect time to think about what items in your home are environmentally sound. Here at George’s Furniture, we are passionate about sustainable products—those that are good for the earth and hold great quality in your home.
Products from George’s Furniture are one-of-a-kind, and are handcrafted with the finest hardwood furniture made from trees grown in Pennsylvania’s forests. Locally made right here in Lancaster, PA, buying from George’s Furniture is naturally the most sustainable choice.
Unlike other materials—such as plastic, steel, or other metals—wood is a renewable resource as trees grow back! Using only the best trees for your furniture, the wood being used actually helps to offset the carbon emissions in the air.
In addition to reducing pollution, harvesting and manufacturing wood doesn’t produce wasted materials. While the main bulk of the wood is used to build our beautiful hand crafted furniture, the by-products are then used to produce mulch, wood pellets, and paper pulp. Additionally, the forest products industry is responsible for generating 77 percent of the country’s biomass energy. They are the largest producer of renewable energy and exceeds the nation’s solar and wind energy combined.
You may be wondering what we do with the wood waste, which we actually use to heat our air drying kiln which dries our walnut woods. Slowly air drying the walnut wood helps maintain the natural beauty of walnut grain, making it beautiful and unique!
So the next time you’re looking for eco-friendly, sustainable furniture, think of George’s Furniture. Come visit our woodshop and get a tour!
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For more information on wood harvesting in the Pennsylvania Forests be sure to check out their website: http://paforestproducts.org.
by Juanita | Feb 15, 2018 | George's Furniture, Team Bio
Before becoming the President of George’s Furniture, Chris Horst spent ten years in the automotive engineering industry in the 90s and early 2000s. He has now been working for George’s for 12 years. Chris married George’s daughter, Juanita, in July of 2000 and became part of the family business. In 2006, Chris and Juanita decided to take over the family business causing a change in careers for Chris.
During the first three years, Chris learned the craft itself. He trained directly with a master craftsman and developed a passion for woodworking and the beauty of hardwood furniture. Chris says, “Knowing what goes into each piece gives you an appreciation for the skill and craftsmanship that is needed to design and craft a dream piece of furniture for our customers. Our customers become part of the business and a part of our family.”
Chris loves to see the customers’ reactions when they see their handcrafted furniture for the first time. It makes all the hard work that goes into each individual piece well worth it.
The project Chris enjoyed the most was designing and building a special bookcase for a small apartment which allowed cables to run through the unit, hidden by the woodwork and attached to the apartment wall for stability.
In his free time, Chris teaches a homeschooled Physics class once a week. He also enjoys reading and taking trips in the outdoors—including camping, biking, and hiking.
by Juanita | Feb 8, 2018 | Events, George's Furniture
George’s Furniture is thrilled to announce that we will be showcasing our one-of-a-kind handmade, hardwood Lancaster County made furniture and home accessories at the traveling Sugarloaf Craft Festival from March to April of 2018. And guess what? You’ll have the chance before each show to win FREE tickets—and one lucky person will receive a $50 gift certificate to use at our booth!
The Rules:
1. Follow our Facebook and keep your eyes peeled—we’ll post about the current contest for the upcoming show, as well as contest deadlines.
2. One contest question will be posted before each show.
3. Head on over to www.georgesfurniturepa.com to find the answer.
4. Five (5) winners will be selected at a time, and one lucky winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to our booth for the upcoming show! Each winner receives two (2) tickets to the show.
Show Dates:
March 2-4: Edison, NJ
March 16-18: Oaks, PA
March 23-25: Chantilly, VA
April 20-22: Gaithersburg, MD
April 27-29: Timonium, PA
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Founded in 1976, the Sugarloaf Craft Festival is a maker-based event focusing on unique, high-quality artisans and their handcrafted work. Each show features 200-350 talented artists and attracts over 200,000 total shoppers! These shoppers spend more than a total of $2 million each year on products from the incredible artisans taking part in the event.
We hope to see you all there!
by Juanita | Feb 2, 2018 | George's Furniture, Team Bio
Former co-owner of George’s Furniture, Ava Lee Martin, has been involved with the company in various ways for 47 years.
It all started by supporting her woodworking artist husband, George. Although she has never manufactured furniture herself, she has truly enjoyed witnessing all of the unique projects coming to fruition. For many years, Ava Lee managed the showroom, answering phones, giving woodshop tours and scheduling furniture deliveries. For Ava Lee, the best part of working for George’s Furniture has been seeing all of the happy customers who come back for more handmade furniture to complete their homes.
Aside from supporting the business in any way possible, in her free time, Ava Lee enjoys flower and vegetable gardening and playing the piano. George’s Furniture is very thankful for her many years of dedicated service.
by Juanita | Jan 29, 2018 | George's Furniture, Rocking Chairs
In 1972, when George was young, he tipped his mother’s rocking chair so far back he hit his head! He made it a life goal to create a rocking chair that would not tip. Here at George’s Furniture, our “Won’t Tip Over” Rocking Chair solves this problem!
This rocking chair comes in various sizes and you can even choose the style of arms, woods, and finishes. All of our rocking chairs are the most comfortable chairs you will ever sit in due to their low center of gravity, allowing for a slow and gentle rocking motion. The comfortable contoured seat means no cushion is necessary. The spindle-back style cylindrical bars give plenty of support to your back, ensuring a comfortable and high quality rocking experience.
For more information about our rocking chairs, or to place a custom order for one, call us today at 1-800-799-1685!
Watch the video here: http://ow.ly/sPo630g6hft
by Juanita | Jan 15, 2018 | George's Furniture, Stools
The George’s Furniture slanted stool can be custom made to match the wood and finish of your amazing non-tipping spindle-back rocking chair. The slanted stool to designed at the precise angle for maximum comfort. The motion of a rocking chair has proven to be very calming to the soul.
The George’s Furniture slanted stool is perfect to place your feet on for a relaxing resting position, and it can even be slid under your customized “rocking recliner” for storage!
For more information about our slanted stools and rocking chairs, or to place a custom order for either one, call us today at 1-800-799-1685!
by Juanita | Jan 15, 2018 | George's Furniture, Rocking Chairs
The motion of a rocking chair has proven to be very calming to the soul. The rhythmic motion of sitting in a rocking chair is reminiscent of being comforted by a soothing touch. Here at George’s Furniture, our variety of spindle–back rocking chairs are the perfect addition to any room of your house—the nursery, your office, living room, your patio, or even your sunroom.
Our rocking chairs, which we actually call “rocking recliners,” come in various sizes and you can even choose the style of arms, woods, and finishes. Our rocking chairs are the most comfortable chairs you will ever sit in due to their low center of gravity, allowing for a slow and gentle rocking motion. The comfortable contoured seat means no cushion is necessary. The most amazing aspect of these rocking recliners is that they are tip-proof. The spindle-back style cylindrical rungs give plenty of support to your back, ensuring a comfortable and high quality rocking experience.
For more information about our rocking chairs, or to place a custom order for one, call us today at 1-800-799-1685!
